The document given below, which has recently come to light in the archives of the British Foreign Office, concerns the punishment meted out to the French adventurer D'Anthès-Heeckeren, who killed Puškin in a duel in January, 1837. The author of this dispatch, John George Lambton, Ist Earl of Durham (1792-1840), a noted Whig politician, had been Lord Privy Seal in the Grey Ministry from 1830 to 1833. His zeal for reform had earned him the nickname of Radical Jack. He was British Ambassador to St. Petersburg from 1835 until 1837, and Governor General of Canada in 1838.

It is not suggested that Durham's report adds any material facts to our knowledge of Puškin's tragic end. At the same time, it emphasizes in a striking manner the discreditable part played by the Dutch Minister, Heeckeren, in his adopted son's conduct.